5.  The applicant was born in 1977 and is currently serving his prison sentence in Kemerovo.
6.  On 19 November 2008 the applicant was convicted of several counts of attempted drug trafficking. He was sentenced to ten years and six months’ imprisonment and sent to correctional colony no. 43 in Kemerovo.
7.  Prior to his arrest the applicant was diagnosed with hepatitis C.
8.  Following his arrival at the correctional colony, the applicant underwent a medical check-up, which did not reveal any diseases.
9.  Sometime later the colony administration received a certificate from a civil hospital attesting that the applicant was suffering from hepatitis C. On the following day he was prescribed hepatoprotectors.
10.  In December 2009 the applicant started experiencing severe pain in the knees. Following a large number of complaints, he was examined on 29 June 2010 by a colony doctor. The doctor suspected that he might have rheumatoid polyarthritis and deforming osteochondrosis of the knee joints and recommended an X-ray examination.
11.  In August 2010 the applicant was transferred to a prison hospital in correctional colony no. 5. Following medical examinations by a physician, a neurologist and an ophthalmologist, and an X-ray, he was diagnosed with an articular syndrome which the doctors concluded was linked to his hepatitis C. No serious pathology was detected. The applicant was prescribed treatment with hepatoprotectors. His complaints of severe pain in the joints were not addressed.
12.  The applicant and his relatives complained to various prison authorities of the lack of proper medical assistance. The replies received by the applicant were almost identical in wording: the officials stated that the medical examinations of the applicant, including an X-ray examination, and his consultations in the prison hospital, had not revealed any articular pathology. They stressed that the prison medical personnel were trained and equipped to address the applicant’s health problems. They also said that an in-patient check-up in the prison hospital of colony no. 5 had been scheduled for the applicant in December 2010 or early 2011.
13.  The applicant asked the administration of his colony to authorise a forensic medical examination or to admit him to a prison hospital for an in‑depth examination and treatment. He also complained that the medical unit of the correctional colony was not equipped to address his health problems. The applicant’s relatives supported his request, having also asked that he be held in the colony in Rostov, close to his home. They argued that they had been unable to travel across the country to see him and could not provide him with assistance or medicines as the colony in which he was detained was too far away. They requested the applicant’s transfer to a hospital in view of his poor state of health.
14.  On 9 April 2012 the applicant was taken from the correctional colony in Kemerovo to a temporary detention facility in Rostov-on-Don to take part in court hearings related to a supervisory review of his conviction. His transfer from Kemerovo to Rostov lasted two months and included several transit destinations: the towns of Mariinsk, Chelyabinsk, Samara, Saratov and Voronezh. On arrival at each of those towns the applicant was taken from the train to a temporary detention facility. According to the applicant, he spent hours on the road carrying a heavy bag with his belongings. He also had to wait for hours for admission to each facility, in great pain but without any opportunity to rest, sit or lie down. His condition started to deteriorate following the transfer. According to the Government, the distance that the applicant had to walk carrying his bag never exceeded 15 metres. During the transfer the applicant was always provided with a sleeping place and never asked for medical assistance.
15.  In response to complaints from the applicant’s relatives, on 1 August 2012 the head of detention facility no. 1 in Rostov sent a letter to the applicant’s mother informing her that a request for admission to tuberculosis hospital no. 1 had been sent by the medical unit of the detention facility. However, three days later the applicant was transported back to correctional colony no. 43 in Kemerovo. The long transit once again led to the deterioration of the applicant’s condition. On arrival at the colony the applicant complained of severe pain, but his complaints were to no avail.
16.  On 4 October 2012 the applicant was seen by a prison doctor. On the same day, he was placed in a punishment cell because a mobile phone had allegedly been found in his cell and he had been declared “a persistent offender of the internal order”. The applicant submitted that it had been extremely cold in the punishment wing and that he had not been given any warm clothes. He stressed that that situation had led to a further deterioration in his health, with the pain in his joints becoming unbearable. His requests for medical assistance were ignored.
17.  The applicant and his relatives complained to a large number of authorities that the applicant was not being provided with any medical attention. One of those complaints brought a response from the Kemerovo regional prosecutor’s office. In a letter of 12 November 2012 a senior prosecutor from the office informed the applicant’s mother that an examination in the prison hospital of correctional colony no. 5 had been scheduled for the applicant at the end of 2012 to determine whether he was suffering from an illness affecting the joints. The Kemerovo Regional Ombudsman sent a similar response.
18.  At the end of October 2012, in response to the applicant’s continuous complaints of pain in the joints, his admission to the colony medical unit was authorised. He started receiving an anti‑inflammatory drug to relieve the pain in his joints and to ameliorate his condition. The applicant submitted that the drug had had no effect.
19.  On 6 December 2012 the applicant was transferred to the therapy ward of the regional prison hospital. He was seen by a surgeon, an ophthalmologist, a cardiologist and a neurologist. The Government insisted that specialists from the regional ophthalmological hospital and the regional cardiology clinic, as well as from the Regional Centre for Protection from AIDS “were involved in the consultations”. A complex examination including an ultrasound scan revealed that he was suffering from multi-level osteochondrosis, which was chronic and recurrent and at a moderately acute stage. He was also diagnosed with osteoarthrosis of the knee joints, a soft tissue disorder of the shoulder, and lumbodynia (pain in the lumbar area). It was recommended that he receive active supervision in the detention facility and treatment, twice a year, with vitamins, metabolites, anti-inflammatory drugs and chondroprotectors. He was also prescribed exercise therapy and self-massage with various ointments. The doctors recommended that the applicant should avoid lifting heavy objects and should not be subjected to the cold. In addition, they compiled a complex chemotherapy regimen in the event that his illness reached an acute stage.
20.  The applicant submitted that while at the hospital he had also complained of pain in his pelvis, elbows and ankles. However, no examination of those areas was conducted.
21.  Having undergone treatment in the hospital, on 21 December 2012 the applicant was discharged in a satisfactory condition. Upon his arrival at colony no. 43 he was prescribed a chondroprotector, a hypotensive drug and vitamins.
22.  Three weeks after his discharge from hospital the applicant was sent back to Rostov. He was forced to take the same route as in April-May 2012. The applicant stressed that he had been unable to follow any of the recommendations made by the doctors of the prison hospital. He had to carry a heavy bag with his personal belongings and had to stay for hours in cold premises or outside without any possibility of lying down or sitting, save for directly on the ground. According to the Government, the distance that the applicant had to walk carrying his bag never exceeded 15 metres. During the transfer the applicant was always provided with a sleeping place and never asked for medical assistance.
23.  The applicant again started experiencing severe pain in the joints. He also had pain during urination. His requests for medical care were ignored by the doctors of temporary detention facility no. 61/1 of Rostov. Late on 20 February 2013 the applicant was taken to a prison hospital for an urgent consultation with an urologist. However, given the late hour he could only be seen by the on-duty doctor, who recorded his complaints, diagnosed acute prostatitis and recommended his examination by a specialist. The applicant was sent back to the detention facility.
24.  Two days later the applicant was transported back to the correctional colony in Kemerovo, despite his mother’s requests to postpone the transfer on account of his poor state of health. Throughout the month-long trip from Rostov to Kemerovo the applicant persistently complained of the deterioration in his health and his inability to bear the pain caused by the cold and the requirement to carry a heavy load. No measures were taken.
25.  On 27 March 2013, following the applicant’s arrival at correctional colony no. 43, he was prescribed a chondroprotector, a hepatoprotector, a hypotensive drug and vitamins. On 15 April anti-ulcer and anti‑inflammatory drugs were added to his regimen.
26.  Between 22 May and 13 June 2013 the applicant underwent inpatient treatment at the prison hospital of correctional colony no. 5. The doctors confirmed the earlier diagnosis and also found the applicant to be suffering from first-degree coxal osteoarthritis.
27.  On 18 June 2013 following his return to the colony the applicant was prescribed vitamins, hypotensive drugs, a chondroprotector and a hepatoprotector.
28.  On 4 December 2013 the applicant was examined by a medical panel, which found that his diseases posed no risk to his life.
29.  On 23 December 2013 the doctors suspected that the applicant might have infiltrative tuberculosis in his left lung. Between 23 December 2013 and 5 February 2014 he was kept in a quarantine ward together with two other infected prisoners without receiving any treatment. He was then sent to prison hospital no. 16 in Kemerovo, where he has remained ever since. Referring to the hospital’s poor reputation as regards respect for prisoners’ rights, the applicant’s representative requested that the applicant be sent to another facility, but to no avail.
30.  On 28 November 2013 the applicant complained to a court, under Chapter 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure, of the lack of medical care in correctional colony no. 43. He claimed that his health complaints had been systematically ignored, that his condition had deteriorated in detention and that he had not been receiving the treatment prescribed to him in December 2012. He also submitted that he had not been allowed to take the medication provided to him by his relatives.
31.  On 22 January 2014 the claim was dismissed. Having cited in detail a copy of the applicant’s medical file provided by the administration of the colony, the court briefly concluded that the applicant’s claims were unsubstantiated. Relying on a statement by the colony’s representative, the court found that the applicant had never asked the administration to allow him to take drugs other than those he was provided with by the prison staff.
32.  The applicant’s appeal against the decision of 22 January 2014 was rejected on 2 July 20014 by the Kemerovo Regional Court.
33.  The applicant provided the following description of his current condition, corroborated by written statements from two of his fellow inmates. He stated that his illness was at an acute stage, and he was suffering from constant severe pain in the joints. He was rapidly losing weight: he weighed 58 kg while being 174 cm tall. The pain was affecting all of his joints, making movement almost impossible. He could not sleep or walk without painkillers. The only medicaments provided (an anti‑inflammatory drug and a chondroprotector) were ineffective for the treatment of an illness such as his, especially given its advanced stage. His request for a copy of his medical record in order to consult an independent specialist had been refused by the administration of the correctional colony, who said that they had no means to pay for a copy of his record.